Lane Changes

by David Lawrence

David Lawrence has had a colorful, if checkered life. Though he holds a Ph.D. in literature from CUNY Graduate Center and taught at Hunter College, in 1976 he went into business and within five years... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1884800793
• ISBN13: 9781884800795
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Four Way Books
• Length: 53 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

David Lawrence's Lane Changes Delivers One Helluva Ride ...

From Wall Street intrigues (that lead the author to a white collar prison camp in Pennsylvania), to the unforgiving ring ropes of Brooklyn's Gleason's Gym, Lawrence's LANE CHANGES is a captivating journey chronicled in the poetic genre. Whatever pain Lawrence encountered along the way - and there must have been pain - he has managed to shine a pink light on and make beautiful. A raw anger masquerades as a taunting arrogance, a childlike defensiveness: "Punching is a beautiful way to hurt the sun. When it shines on me I knock its teeth out." This is not braggadocio. If Lawrence is full of himself, he is full of the bad along with the good. Narcissism becomes a protective, distancing device, a way for Mr. Lawrence to duck the punches of the long reach of life. "I see myself astounding the Hollywood sky like a sweet tart." The language is crisp and new, provocative. We smile, we wince, we tear-up. Lawrence knows how to make the face move. Surreal sensibilities trump the ordinary at every turn and are what drives the reader along.

Poetry with a punch

There are no boxing poets, no poetry writing boxers. Which makes David Lawrence's poetry so unique. At Gleason's David's known as the thinking man's trainer. He's the perfect sparring partner both with fists and rhetorics. As a poet he packs a powerful punch as well, drawing on a life so rich, it would take five volumes of biography to cover. Of course the analogies are unavoidable. There's a flow to his words that's rooted in the quick steps of a boxer, his lines have the surprising patterns of a combination that can floor any opponent. But make no mistake. This ain't no rambling slam poetry. This is highly sophisticated wordcraft drawing on classics from both worlds, be it Sugar Ray Robinson or Wallace Stevens.